Connector applying tool



June 2, 1964 H. c. STOLT Z CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 15, 1961 INVENTOR. HERBERT C. STOLTZ June 2, 1964 H. c. STOLTZ 3,135,310

CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL Filed May 15, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. BY HERBERT C. fiToLTz June 2, 1964 H. c. STOLTZ CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 15, 1961 H. C. STOLTZ CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL June 2, 1964 Filed May 15, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

HERBERT C. 5ToLTz United States Patent f Filed May 15, 1961, Ser. No. 110,234

, 8 Claims. c1.1s3- -1 This invention relatesto tools .for applying electrical connectors to the ends of conductors by radial indentation of the connector ferrule.

An object of ,the invention is to provide an improved connector applying tool of theradial indentation type. I

A further objectis to.provide. an indenting type of tool 'having the indenting means thereof disposed in separable tool holders so that the connectors which are indented pan .be movedlaterally to a position between the holders ,and can -be moved from between the holders after in dentation. A still further object is to provide an indentav,ti o n type tool for ele'c'zt'rical connector's which can be actuated by: fluid or mechanical actuating means such as compressed air or an electricrnotor. A further object is to provide an indentation typecrimping tool which can ,be adjustedfor the accommodation of ferrules of varying sizes and for varying depths of indentation. f I These and other, objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodimentcomprising a c-shaped frame ,having a first tool holder'yieldingly mounted on one arm .thereofand a niovable t ool holder n'lounted on a reciprofcableirarn for movementtowards and away from the first tool holder. In each of these tool holders there are pivot'ally mounted ap'air of indenters which are cammed {int'obngagernent with aterminali positioned between the;;

ltool holders up'on relative movement of the tool holders a's afuniti The'movernent of the indenters relative ,to the tool holdersis' achieved; by. canirning means, one such carnming meansbeijng provided on the reciprocable ram land the othersuch"camrr 1ing means cing'fiX d 011 a m the Q-shap'edframe member, .The arrangement is such lthat importactuationv of the ra rn'and upon movement of "the .niovable too'liholder towards the other tool holder, :jthe two tool holders first move into engagement with each other and then move as a'unittoward theone armor the V frame. Thereafter, the indenters are cammedrelatively' towards a connegtor positioned between the't'ool holders to radially indent the connector and to crimp it onto the In the drawing? with a preferred embodiment of the-invention."

L. FIGURE*2isa'perspective view of a short section of belting' having'connectors mounted thereon at uniformly 'spac'dihtervals':

FIGURE S isa perspective view of an indented cannector. I

FIGURE 4 is afra 'gmentary side view of the pi'g fe yr d embodiment. f I F h FIGURE, 5 is airmail-twittering in 'the direction FI GURE' dis a sectional view looking irithe direction of the arrows 56-56 or FIGURE '4. and Tshowing the positions of .thepa'rt's at the beginning of a' crimping opera- I. FIGURE 7115' aajvie vg hearin the lines 7 7 of G R 8 s new S mi .1 F GURE 6-. u sho tin th lpos t of th fip rtsa a n e dia e stage of the crirnping cycle and after thedool holders have been -rnoved into engagementwitheach other.v 1 x FIGURE 9 is a view. taken along the lines 99 of 11 FIGURESM. .L 1

FIGURE 10 is a view similar a; FIGURE 813a show- FIGURBI isa perspective view of a tool inaccordance 7 Patented June 2, 1964 dug the; positions of the parts after the connector has beenfully indented. I t

FIGURE 1 1 is a view taken along the lines 11-11 of FIGURE 10. t t t 5 FIGURE'JZ is a central sectionalview taken along the ilineQs 12 .12 of FIGURE SVan d showing thefcentral sections of theupper and lower womomersmnd FIGURE an eiriploded perspectiveview showing the ram head tnemberfandlcrimp height adjusting means. 1 I Referring first toQFIGURES 2 and 3, the disclosed embodiment of the invention is v particularly intended to indent terminals 2 which have cylindrical ferrule-portions 8 adapted to receive thestripped end of aconductor 12. Terminals of this type can be 's'ecuredlto ajb elt 4 in 1 spaced-apart parallel relationship and held thereon by m'eans of "a separate strip 6 which is bonded to the belt 4. The tooldisclosed in the description which follows has a mechanismifor intermittently feeding this beltingduring each cycle of operation so as to position" the leading terminal of the beltingat a location -b'etweeh the tool'holdera; The belt-advancing and supporting mechanism does 'not, howeve r, constitute a part ofthe present invention and will not be :described indetail; For purposes of the instant dis closure, ,it is sufficient to say that the belt of FIGURE Zfis advanced during each cycle of operation of 'the tool to position an ,uncrim ped, terminal between the 'tool'holders described below. Reference is made to the copending application, Serial No. 805,433, filed April 10, 1959, by 'Martin L'. Klingler et at, now Patent Number 3,037,545, for a complet'efdescription of this belt sup- "port'ing and advanciagmeehanism; y

A preferred embodiment of the: invention comprises a generally "G-shaped; tool frame '14 having a lowerarm "15 which-is receivedbetweenfand secured to, ears 16. The se{ears areintegral with a cylinder head 18 of a cy lindfer 20 which contains the actuating rnechanism-for'a 'reciprocable ram 28 (FIGURE Cylinder 20 may, 'for example; contain asirnple fluid op'erated piston for reciprocating themam or alternatively it can containa 4.0 fluid-operated piston in combination with a meohanical linkage for reciprocatingthe ra n 'as disclosed inthe copending application of Martin Li Klirigler; Serial No. 36,023, filed-June l4, 1960, now Patent No; 3,053,112. In -eithereve nt', it is advantageous to provide'an actuating :tri'ggen ZZ '"on the external surface ofthe cylinder '20 to -permit the oper'ator to 'both hold 'andactuate the tool :with one hand-. '3' I The belt supporting and feeding niechanisrnis indicated :=g'enerally. in; FIGURES 1,1:4 and 5. at 24. In the interest .of clarity, this mechanism" is .shown' without 'a section of beltingthereon. For purposes ofthe instant disclosure, it should beinoted that;this mechanism comprises a. dial or cylinder.-23 which supports the belt, -This dial is mounted icoaxiall'y with respectto-a plate 25 which isinter- 5 mittently rotated by a pin 26 mounted for movement with the rarn 281 in a manner described below. Other detailsof thea-belt ,feefding mechanism, are described in-detail -in the-aforementioned Klingler et al.- application,

Serial No.;805,433. V H p I 5 Aspacer 30 disposed on the upper end of ram 28 h as at diametricallyopposite. locations on its.upper side a plnralityof pairsof supporting surfaces (cg. 2 9, 29 and 31 31) which are disposed at difier en't leyels with'respect to the end of ,the ramlf These supporting surfaces are (ii-adapted to 'siupport 'the leg 37 of a block.36 so that rotal'ftion ofthespacergiyo with respecttojthe axis of the ram willlh'ave thejjefiject of raising and lowering the block.

This feature offthe disclosed "embodiment relates particu- "lar ly"to the adjilstmentof the tool for terminals of differ- 'ent siz es as described below. -"lhe'blo cl(36 and the spacer are-held inposition by means of a pinBSwhich extends through a recess in the upper surface of the block, through from the section 45.

aligned openings in the block and spacer, and into an opening in the end of the ram to which it is held by means of a locking pin 32.

Arms 40 extend from opposite sides of the block 36 and slidably accommodate pins 46. A head 48 is provided on the upper ends of these pins and coil springs 52 are interposed between these heads and the surfaces of the arms thereby to bias the pins upwardlywith respect to the block 36. The lower ends of the pins extend downwardly through the arms and through openings in the sides of one section 45 of a two-part tool holder 44, 45. Pins 46 are retained in position by means of lock washers 50 so that the springs 52 acting against the underside of the heads 48 normallybias the tool holder 44, 45 upwardly until it abuts the underside of the extensions 40. This arrangement permits relative upwardmovement of the ram and the block 36 with concomitant compression I of the springs 52 with respect to the tool holder 44, 45.

As is, best shown in FIGURES 1- and 4, the two parts of the tool holder 44, 45 are held together by means of screws 47 which are threaded into bosses 49 extending These bosses 49 function to hold the tool holder parts in spacedaapart relationship so that a slot or transverse cavity 42 remains, the block 36 being contained in this cavity. Pivot pins 54 extend across this cavity in the upper portions thereof and on each side of the upper surface of the block 36. Thesepins serve as pivotal mountings for arms 58 which have bosses 56 on their ends through which the pins extend. As shown in FIGURE 6, these arms are curved at their ends and adjacent to the bosses 56 and extend laterally, with respect to the tool holder, in opposite directions. Each arm'has an indenter 60 on its end which is directed generally obliquely and upwardly towards a semi-circular notch 66 in the upper edges 88 of the tool holder. On the sides of the arms opposite to the indenter 66, there are provided protuberances 62 which rest upon the upper surface of the block 36 so that upon upward movement of this block relative to the tool holder, the arms are. rotated about 'their pivotal axes 54 to drive the indenters radially into a connector as will be described below.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 7, 9, and 11, the relative motion of the block 36 with respect to the tool holder 44, 45 is achieved by means of a pair of levers 68 which are mounted on pins 70 in recesses 72 in the tool holder section 45. The right hand ends of these levers, as viewed in FIGURE 11, extend into recesses 76' through elongated slots in the block (FIGURE 12). This arrangement permits'relative upward or downward adjustrnent of the block 84 for reasons which will be apparent as the description proceeds.

It will be noted that the recess76 in the block 36 is of t a size which closely approximates the size of the end of the lever so that very littlemovement of the lever with respect to the block is permitted. Referring now to FIG- URES 7, 9 and 11, it will be apparentthat as the ram 28 moves upwardly from the position of FIGURE 7 to the position 'of FIGURE 9, theblock 36 and the tool holder 44, 45 move upwardly as a unit by virtue of the fact that these two parts are held together by the spring 52 and pin 46. Upon arrival of the ram at the position of FIGURE 9, however, the ends 78 of the levers engage the upper walls of the cavities 86 and upon further upward movement of the ram, the levers 68 must therefore pivot in a This pivotal movement of counterclockwise direction. the levers controls the subsequent upward movement of the tool holder 44, 45 and restricts its movement so that this member only moves a fraction of the distance which the ram moves, the differential in motion of the ram and tool holder being compensated by compression of the springs 52. The block 36, being directly mounted on the ram, moves the full distance that the ram moves during this interval. Thus, the upper surface 64 of the block 36 moves relative to the tool holder 44, 45 and the levers 58 are swung about their pivotal axes and driven into crimping and indenting relationship with the terminal.

The upper edges 88 of tool holder 44, 45 are adapted to engage the complementary edges 90 of an upper tool holder 92. This upper tool holder is mounted between a pair of mounting blocks 106, 108 which are adjustably secured to the upper arm 13 of the frame 14. As shown best in FIGURES 4, 5 and 11, block 106 is secured to the end of arm 13 by means of a screw'107 which extends through an oversized slot 109 in an upstanding frontal portion of the block. Block'108 is secured to block 106 by means of a fastener which extends through an opening in block 106 and into a threaded opening in a flange or extension 112 in block section 108. Advantageously, a set screw 111 is threaded through an opening in a rearwardly extending flange in block 108 and bears against the underside of arm 13 and a pair of ears 113 extend upwardly from this block and bear against the sides of the arm in order to stabilize this member.

Upper tool holder 92 has a transverse slot 94 across which pivot pins 96 extend at each side thereof. These pins serve as pivotal axes for bearing bosses 98 on the ends of arms 100 which extend in opposite directions across the slot and which have indenters 102 on their ends. These indenters extend towards'the center of a notch 103 which is complementary to the notch 66. The sides of the arms opposite from the indenters are provided with protuberances 104 which bear against the under side of-the extension 112 of block 108. Upon upward movement of the upper tool holder, these arms are rotated about their pivotal axes 96 and the indenters move radially into the center of the notch.

The upper tool holder 92 is normally biased to the position of FIGURESl and 4 by means of springs 122 which act between flanges 114 on block 106 and the upper surfaces of arms 118 on the tool holder which fit over the sides of the upper frame arm 13. Pins 116 extend centrally through these springs and areretained in place by their enlarged heads and by lock washers 120 on their lower ends.

The pin 26, which actuates the belt feeding mechanism 24 is mounted on a plate 27 which is slidably carried on the section 44 of the lower tool holder by means of dove tails and complementary slots 43. This plate has a notch at its lower end which receives a circumferential flange 33 on the spacer 30. This arrangement permits rotation of the spacer, to raise or lower the block 36, without changing the position of the pin 26 with respect to the ram. It should be mentioned that the position of this pin should not be changed in the disclosed embodiment for the reason that its stroke must always be of the same amplitude to actuate the belt feed mechanism. Advantageously, a spring biased ball detent 34 is provided in operating cycle. The operator inserts the stripped end of a wire into the ferrule of this uncrimped terminal and actuates the tool by p'ressingthe trigger 22 to drive the ram upwardly. During upward movement of the ram, the lower block 36 and the lower tool holder 44, 45 move upwardly as a unit until the edges 88, 90 come into engagement with each other. Thereafter, the upper and lower tool holders both move upwardly as a unit, however, they do not move at the speed of the ram itself but only at a fraction of the speed because of the fact that the movement of the lower tool holder, and therefore the upper tool holder, is now controlled by the levers 68.

.- During this stage of the cycle, the four arms are rotated,

the lowerarms by the surface 64 of the block 36 and the 'upper arms by the surface of the extension 112 on the A salient advantage of the instant device is that the tool holders move completely apart so that the finished crimped connection can be moved laterally from'between the tool holders and out of the C-shaped frame member. This permits the use of an indentation type crimp as a splice, for example, and, of course, permits the use of terminals in belt form as in the instant disclosure.

The disclosed embodiment of the invention can be adjusted for varying sizes of terminals in a manner which will now be explained. It should be pointed out that the indentation type crimp of FIGURE 3 is relatively critical from a dimensional standpoint and that the accurate and precise adjustment of the tool is therefore a desirable feature. The criticality of the crimp concerns both the depth of the indentations and the uniformity of the depth. The depth of these indentations is readily 1 controlled by means of the spacer 30 which can be rotated to raise or lower the block 36. Raising the block has the effect of increasing the depth of the indentations formed by the indenters and/ or adapting the tool to usage with smaller diameter terminals. This effect will be apparent if it is observed that when the block 36 is raised, by rotation of the spacer 30, the two tool holders are moved relatively towards each other so that during the stroke of the piston 28, the indenter arms start to pivot at an earlier stage of the cycle. In other words, if the block 36 is raised, the amount of relative motion between the lower tool holder and the block 36 and between the upper tool holder and the block 112 is increasedand the indenting motion of the indenters is thereby increased.

The plate 84 can also be adjusted upwardly or downwardly by virtue of the oversized slots through which the screws 85 extend. Downward movement of this plate results in a deeper penetration of the ferrule by the indenters while upward movement thereof results in shallower penetration.

It is not contemplated that it will ordinarily be necessary to adjust the upper tool holder when the terminal size is changed. The elongated slot 107 permits raising or lowering of this upper tool holder but such adjustment will ordinarily be made only to compensate for the initial position of the ram 28. Thus, when the tool is initially assembled, the upper tool holder is adjusted to permit this ram to travel its full stroke but subsequent adjustments are unnecessary.

It will be noted that in the drawing, the spacer 30 is in a position such that the block 36 and the lower tool holder are in their lowest relative position of adjustment.

It will also be noted that the head of pin 38 is spaced from the bottom of the counterbore in which it is located. This spacing is necessary to permit upward movement of the block 36 relative to the pin when the block is raised.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently dilferent modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective against the prior art.

I claim:

l. A device for radially indenting electrical connectors comprising, a pair of tool holders movable relatively towards and away from each other along a rectilinear path and movable as a unit along said path after engagement with each other, each tool holder having a pair of pivotally mounted arms normally extending towards and past each other, said arms having indenters on their ends directed towards a common point of intersection, and camofsaid' 'tool holdersfisjyieldingly mounted on a relatively non-movable support, and a second one of said tool holders is yieldingly mounted on a reciprocable ram, said camming means being engageable with said arms during yielding of said tool holders with respect to said ram and said non-movable support.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 including means for controlling the yielding of said second tool holder.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said means for controlling yielding of said second tool holder oomprises lever means pivotally mounted on said second tool holder and pivotally movable by said ram.

5. A device for radially indenting electrical connectors comprising, a pair of tool holders movable relatively towards and away from each other along a rectilinear path and movable as a unit along said path after engagement with each other, each tool holder having a pair of pivotally mounted arms thereon, said arms being mounted on opposite sides of each tool holder and extending obliquely towards and past each other, said arms having indentors on their ends directed towards a common point of intersection, and a camming means on each of said tool holders, each camming means being movable with respect to its tool holder after engagement of said tool holders with each other, and each camming means being in engagement with the arms of its respective tool holder thereby to swing said arms about their pivotal axis and to move said indentors radially into a connector positioned between said tool holders.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 wherein a first one of said tool holders is yieldingly mounted on a nonmovable support, and a second one of said tool holders is yieldingly mounted on a reciprocable ram, said camming means for said first tool holder being fixed to said non-movable support and said camming means for said second tool holder being non-yieldingly mounted on said ram whereby, relative movement between each of said tool holders and its respective camming means takes place when said tool holders move as a unit after engagement with each other.

7. A device for radially indenting electrical connectors comprising, a pair of tool holders, a first one of said tool holders being yieldingly mounted on a non-movable support, a second one of said tool holders being yieldingly mounted on a reciprocable ram for movement towards and away from said first tool holder, said tool holders being movable as a unit upon engagement with each other during movement of said ram, each tool holder having a pair of pivotally mounted arms thereon, said arms being mounted on opposite sides of each of said tool holders and extending obliquely towards and past each other, said arms having indentors on their ends directed towards a. common point of intersection, a first camming means on said non-yielding support and a second camming means adjustably mounted on said ram foradjustment towards and away from said first camming means, each camming means being in engagement with the arms of its respective tool holder thereby to swing said arms about their pivotal axes upon movement of said tool holders as a unit with concomitant relative movement between said first tool holder and said support and said second tool holder and said ram.

8. A device for radially indenting electrical connectors comprising, a first tool holder yieldingly mounted on a support, a second tool holder yieldingly mounted on a reciprocable ram, each tool holder having a pair of pivotally mounted arms thereon extending towards and past each other, said arms having indentors on their ends directed towards a common point of intersection, located between said tool holders, said tool holders being engager 7 8 v able with each other and being movable as a unit after said indentors towards said common point and to indent engagement with concomitant yielding of said tool 7 a connector positioned with its axis at said common point.

holders, lever means acting between said ram and said second tool holder; positively to control yielding of said References Clted m the file of thls patent secondutool holderrelative to said 'ram, and camming "5 VUNITED STATES NTS means engageable with said levers during yielding of said 2,761,486 Reardon Sept. 4, 1956 tool holders pivotally to move said arms thereby to move 2,921,618 Fuller Jan. 19, 1960 

1. A DEVICE FOR RADIALLY INDENTING ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS COMPRISING, A PAIR OF TOOL HOLDERS MOVABLE RELATIVELY TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER ALONG A RECTILINEAR PATH AND MOVABLE AS A UNIT ALONG SAID PATH AFTER ENGAGEMENT WITH EACH OTHER, EACH TOOL HOLDER HAVING A PAIR OF PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ARMS NORMALLY EXTENDING TOWARDS AND PAST EACH OTHER, SAID ARMS HAVING INDENTERS ON THEIR ENDS DIRECTED TOWARDS A COMMON POINT OF INTERSECTION, AND CAMMING MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY MOVING SAID ARMS, DURING MOVEMENT OF SAID TOOL HOLDERS AS A UNIT, THEREBY TO MOVE SAID INDENTERS RADIALLY INTO A CONNECTOR POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID TOOL HOLDERS. 